Need advice about digital scanners

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ECAR1000

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Hi everyone! I've been out of the scanner hobby for about 10 years, and still own a 30 channel Uniden portable, and a 10 channel portable from RadioShack. I still hear things on the frequencies I've always used.

Now, I was just at Radioshack a couple days ago and was surprised they don't have any scanners there. I asked about it and was told they only sell them online now. Hmmm. I was also told that our area has gone over to digital. That's funny, since all the analog channels are still active. I also googled the frequencies for my area and don't see anything new. So what's with all this digital stuff? Are digital and analog being used side by side or something?
 

oracavon

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A lot of places are switching to digital as their old analog equipment becomes obsolete (due to lack of manufacturer support & parts, or systems that they've just outgrown in terms of capacity). When it's time to get a new radio system, they often go with digital.

On the other hand, some agencies still stick with analog for various reasons (cost being one of them), even when they upgrade their radio equipment. The California Highway Patrol is one such example. They continue to update their radio equipment (base, mobile and repeaters), but the new equipment still uses analog transmission (albeit with the exception of their hand-held short-range extenders, in the case of the CHP).

So a lot of geographic areas will continue to have both analog and digital signals for some time to come.

Exactly what type of advice were you looking for?
 

W8RMH

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Grove City, OH (A Bearcat not a Buckeye)
It is difficult to help you without knowing where you are and what you want to listen too.

Click on your user name (in yellow) at the top of the page, go into your account and enter your city and state.

Some agencies that have gone to digital may also broadcast on analog systems for paging and/or mutual aid purposes.

Who told you your area is digital. Don't believe what RS says, they now very little of scanners these days.

If you are still able to monitor everything what you heard may be untrue.
 
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DickH

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I discovered that you are in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Yes, most everyone is still on the ond VHF and UHF freqs., but there is some activity on the statewide VHF digital system. I suspect that there may be plans to change to that system.
I suggest asking in the Wisconsin forum.
 

ECAR1000

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Eau Claire, WI
I discovered that you are in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Yes, most everyone is still on the ond VHF and UHF freqs., but there is some activity on the statewide VHF digital system. I suspect that there may be plans to change to that system.
I suggest asking in the Wisconsin forum.

Thanks! I guess I'll stick with what I have now. All the main traffic in my area seems to still be analog.
 

ECAR1000

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Eau Claire, WI
Who told you your area is digital. Don't believe what RS says, they now very little of scanners these days.

If you are still able to monitor everything what you heard may be untrue.

It was originally a salesman at Radioshack that told me that our area was about to switch to all digital about 6 months ago. Then I went to the store a couple days ago, and a different salesperson told me that the switch to digital has now taken place. But as you said, If I am still able to monitor everything, what I heard may be untrue. It's hard to imagine how they can tell people something like that though. So if I followed what they said, I would go and buy a digital scanner and not hear much. I wonder how many customers they would have if they got that kind of result very often.
 

DickH

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It was originally a salesman at Radioshack that told me that our area was about to switch to all digital about 6 months ago. Then I went to the store a couple days ago, and a different salesperson told me that the switch to digital has now taken place. But as you said, If I am still able to monitor everything, what I heard may be untrue. It's hard to imagine how they can tell people something like that though. So if I followed what they said, I would go and buy a digital scanner and not hear much. I wonder how many customers they would have if they got that kind of result very often.

If you look in the database (click DATABASE, top of this page) you will see that Eau Clair county has a few talk groups on the state-wide digital VHF system. It may not be immenent, but it seems likely the police, at least, will change to that system.
 

n5ims

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Jul 25, 2004
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Hi everyone! I've been out of the scanner hobby for about 10 years, and still own a 30 channel Uniden portable, and a 10 channel portable from RadioShack. I still hear things on the frequencies I've always used.

Now, I was just at Radioshack a couple days ago and was surprised they don't have any scanners there. I asked about it and was told they only sell them online now. Hmmm. I was also told that our area has gone over to digital. That's funny, since all the analog channels are still active. I also googled the frequencies for my area and don't see anything new. So what's with all this digital stuff? Are digital and analog being used side by side or something?

Don't worry about the store not having any scanners in stock, they won't for now. The company that made scanners for RS went out of business and sold the line to a new company. That new company, Whistler, is apparently very close to having their scanners ready for the market. Their own products as well as their RS versions are currently being listed for sale, (but out of stock or with long shipping times) so you should be able to find info on them pretty easily (a scan on the boards here, especially in the RS and GRE forums may be a good place to start) but don't expect to be able to pick one up online or at a store for at least a month or more. And don't worry much about the listed prices at this point, they're pretty much only the MSRP, which generally only sets the most companies will sell them for, not what you'll pay most of the time.

http://forums.radioreference.com/ra...8-new-whistler-made-radio-shack-scanners.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/293424-whistler-scanners-now-amazon.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/283532-whistler-teasing-us.html (This is an old thread but has some good info on the last few pages)
Scanners, Patrol Scanners & Handheld Scanners | RadioShack
 

VicradioZone

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Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
Don't worry about the store not having any scanners in stock, they won't for now. The company that made scanners for RS went out of business and sold the line to a new company. That new company, Whistler, is apparently very close to having their scanners ready for the market.

Not really a new company, they've been around a long time, a 'different company' is possibly a better term?


Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk
 

n5ims

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Not really a new company, they've been around a long time, a 'different company' is possibly a better term?


Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

OK, New to scanners then. If they sold the line, it would have to be to a 'different company' since it wouldn't make sense to sell it to themselves.
 
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